The Voice Artist

A voice is more than sound. It carries intention, confidence, warmth, urgency, humour and trust.

Voice work taught me that the microphone magnifies not only pronunciation but also attitude. A technically correct sentence can still fail if it is emotionally empty. A simple line can become memorable when it is delivered with honesty and the right rhythm.

Every voice-over begins with questions: Who is speaking? To whom? Why should the listener care? What should remain in the listener’s mind after the final word? The answers determine pace, pitch, pauses and emphasis.

Corporate films, advertisements, podcasts, announcements and conversations each require a different vocal architecture. A brand may need assurance. A public message may need clarity. A story may need intimacy. A podcast may need spontaneity.

The best voice artist does not overpower the message. He serves it. He knows when to speak, when to pause and when silence can say more than a sentence.

Starting from 2000’s I was able to lend voice to over 30,000 commercials in Malayalam, English, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Urdu, be on air for more than 15,000 hours in Malayalam, and Tamil as a radio jock.

Radio also gave me a chance to be an interviewer, siring over 700 interviews with the who’s who of the world including Jeffrey Archer, Benazir Bhutto, Dr. Padma Subramaniam, Kunnakudi Vaidyanathan, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Chetan Bhagat, Shoba De, Arundhati Roy, Sashi Tharoor, Anupam Kher, HH Princess Aswathy Thirunal of the Travancore Royalty, Fr. Philip Mar Chrysostom, Abhishek Bachchan, Mohanlal, Mammootty, Jayasuriya, A. R. Rahman, Hema Malini, S. Janaki, P Susheela, Yesudas, Vijay Yesudas to name a few.

My endevour to spread the importance of voice I shared all the knowledge about voice mentoring over 6000 students who aspired to be voice artist, actors or singers as a voice coach through Netflix, NFDC, Neo Film School, South Indian Film Academy and Chavara Film school, other than my personal and master trainers training though La Liberta, an organization I manage.

To lend one’s voice to an idea is a responsibility. The sound may last only a few seconds, but the impression can remain much longer.